国家公园管理局启动犹他州三座国家公园沙漠大角羊研究:直升机调查与捕捉放归目标75只

美国国家公园管理局(NPS)11月4日宣布,已与土地管理局、犹他州野生动物资源局及犹他州立大学合作,启动一项针对沙漠大角羊的研究,范围覆盖Arches、Canyonlands、Capitol Reef三座国家公园及周边土地,内容包括疾病、种群数量与栖息地。
野外作业于11月初至12月间进行,包括直升机空中调查与捕捉—放归。作业期间,访客可能看到或听到直升机。研究人员将以直升机网枪捕捉大角羊,现场处理、采样并佩戴GPS项圈后放归,收集其健康、数量、分布与活动数据。项目文件列出的捕捉目标为:Canyonlands 30只、Arches 15只、Capitol Reef 30只。项目首席研究员为犹他州立大学的Kezia Manlove与Tayler LaSharr。
NPS表示,此类系统监测在Canyonlands与Arches自2008年以来未再开展,在Capitol Reef则要追溯到1990年代末至2000年代初。东南犹他公园群(Arches与Canyonlands)督导Lena Pace表示,这项合作研究有助于管理者掌握大角羊种群状况。
据NPS的Canyonlands公园页面,该公园栖息着约350只沙漠大角羊。研究所得数据还可能用于支持在产羔地周边实施季节性关闭等管理措施。
National Park Service Launches Desert Bighorn Sheep Study Across Three Utah National Parks, Targeting 75 Captures
The National Park Service announced on November 4 that it has begun a study of desert bighorn sheep — covering disease, population and habitat — across Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks and surrounding lands, in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Utah State University.
Fieldwork runs from early November through December and includes helicopter aerial surveys and capture-and-release operations; visitors may see or hear helicopters during the work. Crews will net-gun sheep from helicopters, process and sample the animals, fit them with GPS collars and release them, gathering data on health, abundance, distribution and movement. Project documents set capture targets of 30 sheep in Canyonlands, 15 in Arches and 30 in Capitol Reef. The principal investigators are Kezia Manlove and Tayler LaSharr of Utah State University.
The Park Service said monitoring at this level has not been carried out in Canyonlands and Arches since 2008, or in Capitol Reef since the late 1990s to early 2000s. Lena Pace, superintendent of the Southeast Utah Group (Arches and Canyonlands), said the cooperative study will help managers understand the status of the herds.
According to the NPS page for Canyonlands, the park is home to roughly 350 desert bighorn sheep. Data from the study may also support management steps such as seasonal closures around lambing grounds.
来源:美国国家公园管理局
发布:GSM·美国(发布链接)
图片来源:图:一只沙漠大角羊(NPS 摄于 Lake Mead National Recreation Area)。来源:U.S. National Park Service, Photo: Andrew Cattoir,NPGallery,Public domain。 / Photo: A desert bighorn sheep (NPS photo at Lake Mead National Recreation Area). Source: U.S. National Park Service, Photo: Andrew Cattoir, NPGallery, Public domain.
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